Every Man for Himself
by Nocturne
Summary: Max reflects


Disclaimer: They're not mine. Leave me alone. Of course, if Michael's too much of a hassle, you can just pass him over to me. I'll take good care of him.

Author's Notes: This is kinda strange, but I hope you guys like it anyway. Please review, that's the only way I'm gonna get any better. Just don't make fun of my Canadian spelling.

***

The only way to succeed in this world is to think only of yourself. If you actually sat there, and broke every seemingly generous act down to its core, you'd find some selfishness on the part of the apparent do-gooder. When you do something nice, considerate, whether you know it or not, you're really doing it for yourself. People who donate to charities are really just satisfying their egos; they have enough money for themselves _and_ other people. Helping the old lady cross the street only makes them feel younger. Rescuing the stray kitten provides them with company.

The sad part is, the world has always been this way. Even before the pulse. Especially before the pulse. It's not the environment, or the economy that makes people like that. They don't really have the choice. It's human nature. The most basic and primal survival instinct. Every man for himself.

That's the way we were taught. That's the way it should be. And, if you're lucky, that's the way it ends up being.

Or, of course, you could end up like me. Just a nice girl, desperately trying to be normal, and minding your own business. One night, you get yourself into a situation where you have to introduce yourself to a man like Logan Cale.

Turns out he's slightly driven, and has the means to find out everything about you. The secrets you haven't told your best friends. You're not really that kind of girl, see. You're not into that whole sharing , group dealing aspect of it. The way you see it, it's your problem, and therefore, you're the only one who can really understand it. So why just uselessly bring other people in on it?

So anyway, through further acquaintance with this man, you suddenly find yourself helping people. Not entirely selflessly, of course. You get some help locating your family, good food, and endless amounts of time spent with a guy you have found to be essentially perfect.

One day, circumstance has you going on a work-related field trip to the quaint little town in Wyoming, where you grew up.

You're kind of uneasy; you have a lot of bad memories associated with this place. You withdraw a bit, trying to deal with suddenly being back in the place where you spent a slightly traumatic childhood. Your companion, ever the considerate and observant man that he is, sets off immediately to remedy the situation. The way he sees it, the only way to rid yourself of bad memories is to create new ones.

He shows up at the door to your hotel room one night, with a slew of board games under his arm. He knows you probably won't sleep anyway, and he figures its probably better for you to wile those hours away kicking his ass in chess, or asking him if his person is wearing a hat.

You begin to spend all your nights this way. His plan is proving to be successful; you slowly find yourself able to associate memories of laughter and happiness with this place. His concern for you touches you in a way that doesn't allow you to deny it.

Eventually, your little road trip begins to wrap up. Your work in the area is practically done, and soon, you'll be going back home.

On your last night there, you enter your room to find it full of candles, with soft music playing, and the unmistakable aroma of your favourite bit of Cale cuisine wafting through the air. He's standing in the middle of the room with a proud grin playing on his face, and you feel your knees go a litlle weak, just as they always do. It dawns on you that you know the perfect way to leave this town with almost no hard feelngs. 

The next morning, you figure you can just sit up and reflect. For the first time, you feel no regret. You feel perfectly content with just rolling over, and watching him sleep.

Come to think of it, the very man for himself mentality isn't so perfect. Helping others has its perks.

A/N: Okay, so highly unlikely that she'd actually end up liking Gillette, but in my happy little bubble, it's possible. The board game they're playing is Guess Who, by the way.


End file.
